<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Days of work, days of glory by TammieSheep</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28418649">Days of work, days of glory</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/TammieSheep/pseuds/TammieSheep'>TammieSheep</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>M/M, but thats ok i enjoyed writing a few lines of him, kaito and mondo are bros, kaito only exists a lil bit, yall saw the utdp right</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 18:27:10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,659</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28418649</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/TammieSheep/pseuds/TammieSheep</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Kiyotaka knew there was a chemistry test coming, of course he knew! He knew he needed to study for it...and he knew Mondo struggled with chemistry. But for some reason, Mondo refused to let him help...something about having to study for himself. But why? Why would he need to work without him? Was he a distraction?<br/>Or was it fuel for Mondo to work even harder?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Ishimaru Kiyotaka/Oowada Mondo</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>58</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Days of work, days of glory</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=rainbowinnuendo">rainbowinnuendo</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This is a gift for rainbowinnunendo for the holiday gift! (its before 2021 so IT COUNTS PERFECTLY!not really but shhhh) Hope you like it! :D (also yall slowly watch me get into using ao3 and start using it properly hjoifghoifjh)<br/>Edit: Changed the dashes I used to indicate speech to proper quotes. That should make it easier for native english speakers, I believe!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>For studying, one needs focus and order. And after years of perfecting his own methods, Kiyotaka could safely say he was experienced on that matter. It was something he would never hesitate to share to help his fellow classmates, let alone his own boyfriend.</p><p>But why was Mondo avoiding him to study alone, then?</p><p>“I wanna focus this time, and I don’t think I will be able to focus that much with you around…” Mondo had said before, scratching his head with a blush on his face. Taka couldn’t understand how was that accurate. Was the prefect such a distraction? His expression seemed to alert the biker, as he rushed to explain himself a little “Dude, you don’t bother me or anything! It’s just, this time I have some stuff on mind and I need to work that too, and I think it will work better alone…”</p><p>“I can’t truly say that I understand your reason, but… I will respect it!” it was what Kiyotaka said back then, and no matter what, it wouldn’t change!</p><p>But still…</p><p>Taka couldn’t help but feel, even if only a tiny bit, like a liability to his bro and boyfriend.</p><p>The test they had coming for the next week… it was a chemistry test. And he knew how much Mondo struggled with that particular subject. While he could somewhat do well on balancing chemical equations — even if mostly because of the equation part of it, Mondo was good with math —, he always would get stuck if he ever had to use the oxidation numbers… and that was a good part of the test! But ions were not something Mondo memorized easily, despite how Kiyotaka tried to explain it in a more “delinquent” way. It made him understand the concept of where the electrons would go, but didn’t help on memorizing which ones would get an electron “stolen” or if they would become an anion because it was “less poor” and so had the minus symbol, or a cation because it was “even poorer than before” and so had the plus symbol…</p><p>It was complex! And took a lot of memorizing! And Taka knew Mondo would need a system to memorize it properly, and that he didn’t have one!</p><p>So why was he avoiding his help, then?!</p><p>Still, no matter what Kiyotaka would respect his wishes, even if he couldn’t understand them. Mondo was studying last week instead of last day, it was progress! And besides, he had to study as well for the test! There was no time to lose.</p><p>And with that settled, Kiyotaka studied the rest of his day, not bothering to stop and worry about his boyfriend too much. And didn’t get a single message of him either, so…</p><p>Maybe things were going fine?</p><p>…</p><p>
  <em>Oh, no.</em>
</p><p>It was not going fine.</p><p>It was visible the next day, with how Mondo dragged himself to class as if the motion of walking itself was hard enough to be <em>torture.</em> At least somehow his pompadour had the same perfect shape as always, but it was if anything proof that Mondo was probably too tired, studying too much and still worrying about his image!</p><p>“Mondo! What happened? Bro, please tell me you didn’t work too hard! You know the problems that come with overworking!” Kiyotaka rushed to help him walk, only to get shoved away with no real strength.</p><p>“Don’t worry too much…” Mondo sighed, even if visibly tired “I just got caught up once, won’t happen again, bro. Just lost track of time and went to sleep late…”</p><p>“But how late was it?”</p><p>Mondo looked away as if it would make the answer better.</p><p>“… five a.m. But HOLD ON!” the biker shouted in a hurry, as he knew his boyfriend would worry his head off about it “It was just this time… and I learned my lesson, alright?”</p><p>“Mondo… that’s…” Kiyotaka stared at the other man, looking at his tired yet determined features. He still had his doubts about it all, but Mondo clearly disagreed with that. Maybe he didn’t only study, maybe something else came up as well, but it didn’t change the fact that Mondo overworked and was still fired up to do well.</p><p>Kiyotaka didn’t know what kickstarted such strength, but he could respect it.</p><p>“Very well. But! If something like that happens again, please let me help you!”</p><p>“Sure thing. It won’t happen again, bro. Trust me” as if it wasn’t hard to <em>not</em> trust such a powerful expression, despite the dark circles around his eyes. There was some real motivation right there! Taka could only hope he would manage it well.</p><p>Surprisingly… it went well the next days, even if Mondo still avoided him most of the time. It was quite lonely, but he understood. Kiyotaka himself was doing well on his studies, truly making progress on other classes as well! They still saw each other sometimes, and hanged around for a short period of time, but nothing past thirty minutes.</p><p>Just enough time for Mondo to kiss him and hold him, as he claimed it would “renew his energy”. It was quite cute, in a way, and it did fuel Kiyotaka’s own fire after all!</p><p>Soon enough it was the last day before their chemistry test, and Kiyotaka felt confident enough about it. They were together on the hall monitor’s room, and Taka still had his book open, but…</p><p>“Is there any specific reason why you insist in studying that hard? I’m not complaining, bro! I think it’s admirable! But even I get curious…”  not to mention worried! Kiyotaka wanted to be sure that his boyfriend was doing well enough “Are you eating properly? Taking breaks?”</p><p>“Pff, don’t worry so much, man!” Mondo laughed, a sound like a melody to deprived ears. It had been such a full week… Taka missed that sound so much “I’m kinda confident myself, to be honest. And after we get the results, I want to tell you something, alright?”</p><p>“Is it something I should worry about?” despite saying that, it was visible Kiyotaka was <em>already worrying</em>, feeling his own anxiety pool inside his chest. Mondo quickly pulled him into a tight hug, squeezing him just like he knew Taka liked the most.</p><p>“Nothing bad, Taka. I promise” Mondo sighed in his boyfriend’s hair, giving him one last squeeze before letting him go and staring into those red eyes. It wasn’t much, but it was just enough to get Kiyotaka to relax a little, and so they smiled to each other.</p><p>“Then I will wait. The teacher said the results would come in two days… I will be waiting for whatever it is!” and so he “sealed” it with a peck on Mondo’s lips, only for it to deepen into a real kiss full of longing and love and <em>need. </em>Taka sighed after they separated themselves “Shouldn’t you go, then? It has been more than our usual thirty minutes…”</p><p>“Yeah, but… I don’t want to go yet…”</p><p>At least they could share the sentiment as well the longing.</p><p>--//--</p><p>The test finally arrived, and Kiyotaka was confident on his knowledge. Same couldn’t be said about Mondo, who looked so nervous it made Taka nervous as well. But there was nothing they could do about that except taking the test, and so they did.</p><p>“How did it go?”  it was the first thing Kiyotaka asked after both of them finished their tests, resting on his own room.</p><p>“I don’t know” Mondo confessed, looking horribly nervous “I think I did good enough to pass, but I’m not sure…”</p><p>“Why did you refuse my help to study then?” Taka couldn’t help but feel powerless and rejected, even if it was something maybe silly to feel bad about it. He wanted to help; he really did! But for some reason Mondo wanted to study by himself, almost as if his presence would be too much of a distraction…</p><p>“I got my reasons… I will tell you after the results, alright?” the biker sighed, basically throwing himself on Taka’s arms and hiding his face there “I’m so fucking tired, man…”</p><p>“I told you take breaks…”</p><p>“I did. I really did” then it wasn’t tiredness from the body, it was from the mind… and to that, Kiyotaka could only hug him tighter and wait until they got their results, to truly understand and help Mondo.</p><p>“Just remember this, alright?” the prefect held the other man’s face, looking into those beautiful lilac eyes he had. So pretty… “No matter if you passed or not… I’m already proud of you. You worked really hard and that’s an accomplishment of its own!”</p><p>To that, Mondo nodded and smiled, visibly embarrassed but still happy. For now, it was enough to quench some of the anxiety until the next two days.  </p><p>“Does that mean I get to skip next class if I do good?”</p><p>“… never mind, you are impossible!”</p><p>Despite their words, both of them were laughing as if the worst had passed, those feelings mostly forgotten as they wrestled for the chance of Mondo skipping a class without being <em>too</em> chewed because of it.</p><p>But they knew it wouldn’t last… after all, the day always end. Just like the next day… making the day of explanations and a result test finally arrive.</p><p>--//--</p><p>Mondo was sweating bullets as the teacher called his name, giving the tests at the end of the class as if waiting for the damn thing the entire class wasn’t torture.</p><p>He got the test. Didn’t even look at it, just grabbed it and left as he knew Taka would be waiting for him.</p><p>“So? Should we go to a private place?” Taka asked, doing his best to avoid peeking at Mondo’s test. He probably wouldn’t like that.</p><p>“Yeah… didn’t see the result yet” Mondo confessed, as they both quickly walked to the dorms, his own steps more forceful than usual. And that was saying something, usually he walked like a true delinquent, while Taka properly marched around the corridors! As they finally got inside Mondo’s dorm…</p><p>Kiyotaka took some time to look at it. It was a mess, frankly, but not as bad as other days. He could still see the chemistry book on top of the desk, seemingly forgotten as it was still open. A quick glance was enough to see it was open on the subject of their test…</p><p>How much did Mondo study for it?</p><p>“Alright… here goes nothing then…” Mondo sighed, his hands shaking as he finally looked at his own test, having to straighten it a bit so he could see it properly…</p><p>Sixty-five.</p><p>Enough to pass. Maybe not enough to be a grade considered good to most students, and probably something that Taka wouldn’t consider good for <em>himself…</em>but he handed the test to Taka anyway, going to sit down and hide his face between his hands.</p><p>“I… I heard some guys saying that I was going to drag you down” Mondo didn’t look up, still hiding his face but unable to hide the blush on his ears as he confessed what was eating his heart out “That I was just mooching on you like a damn leech… that I couldn’t do jack shit without you guiding me. It made me so mad, but I didn’t fight them… I just stayed there listening to it. I wanted to study hard so I could make you proud… fuck, it was hard! And I passed, and I’m happy about that at least! But it’s still not a big score or anything like that…”</p><p>Kiyotaka couldn’t help but stare at Mondo and back to the test again.</p><p>Sure, sixty-five wasn’t exactly a high grade if you look at it by itself. But Taka knew how much Mondo struggled with chemistry. And he knew how much Mondo sometimes felt bad about the idea of dragging him down, no matter how much Kiyotaka disagreed with that.</p><p>“I’m just a damn gangster in the end, I know that… but I really wanted to make you proud, and it made my day to hear you say that before the test!” the biker sighed and finally stared up to his boyfriend, blushing from embarrassment “I know it isn’t much, but I worked really hard for it! I don’t care if it wasn’t that good or if it didn’t recover all of the points I still need to pass, but… I still worked my ass out for it so I could make you proud of me…”</p><p>“Mondo! You… how could I not be proud of this?!” Kiyotaka absolutely beamed, his heart full of pride and love. Mondo cared so much about him and his goals that he went all the way to prove to both of them that he could do it! And he <em>did it!</em> He passed the test! It was his <em>best grade on chemistry so far!</em> “You worked so hard! And all by yourself! I couldn’t care less if someone else thinks you are taking advantage of me in any way, they are still allowed to be <strong>absolutely wrong</strong> and I will always correct them if I hear it!”</p><p>Mondo blinked a few times, a smile slowly showing up to his face. A big, goofy smile, as his cheeks burned and Taka basically <em>jumped</em> to hug him, both falling on the bed.</p><p>“You! Silly! Man!” each compliment was followed by a kiss, as Kiyotaka continued to squeeze his boyfriend that only laughed “I’m so happy and proud of you! You adorable, handsome man! I love you! I want to scream to the world that you are amazing and overcoming your hardships! We are going to study together for the next test, and we <em>both</em> are going to do even better!”</p><p>“Thanks, man… for real, Taka” Mondo smiled, laughing as Taka proceeded to shower him with kisses all over his face “Hey, now, I wanna kiss you too! I missed doing that for real and not just something quick!”</p><p>“Then do it, if you can!” Taka laughed, looking at Mondo with a cheeky grin “You will have to bypass my own affection-!”</p><p>There was no time for him to finish that sentence, as his lips were shut by a very excited mouth. Everything was good. They both did well, and they both were happy and proud, no matter what anyone else said. They would remain <em>together</em> and get stronger than ever before. It was all perfect.</p><p>“That should totally mean I get to skip next class, dude. I should get honors for this shit!”</p><p>“ABSOLUTELY NOT!”</p><p>Maybe not all. But that was good in its own way.</p><p>--//--</p><p>“I knew it would all go well! As long as you do your best, everything is possible!” Kaito laughed, patting Mondo on his back after he told him how his study session went.</p><p>“I already told you I’m not your damn sidekick…” despite that… Mondo was still smiling. Now that it was all over, he had time to hang out with his friend from the other class as well, since lord knows Kaito wouldn’t leave him alone unless he told him <em>why</em> he was busy the entire week… but hey, at least he was understanding.</p><p>“You have already beaten your first rival, but there shall be many to overcome! You can do it, Mondo!”</p><p>“You’re saying that but don’t <em>you</em> have a chemistry test to study too? Should ya actually be here to begin with?” Mondo deadpanned.</p><p>“…well, yes, but I can do it without studying that much” Kaito wasn’t looking at Mondo when he said it, though.</p><p>“Pff, you’re full of shit, man! If you get a better grade than me without studying like crazy, I will be so mad!” Mondo laughed.</p><p>“But wouldn’t you be proud of me, for doing such an amazing feat?” Kaito laughed, not afraid at all “Just how I am proud of you for passing a test that was so hard for you?!”</p><p>“… fine, maybe a little.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>And then Kaito almost aced the test cause chemistry is a good subject for him. His reasoning: most elements we have come from space dust so it's cool to study!<br/>Mondo is now looking for ways to make chemistry look more like bikes or carpentry. Please help him.</p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>